


That's...... odd

by TalonQueen



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-20
Updated: 2020-02-20
Packaged: 2020-10-24 20:46:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,601
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20712278
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TalonQueen/pseuds/TalonQueen
Summary: The Doctor finds a lemonade stand, it's uh..... A bit weird





	1. Chapter 1

The Doctor liked lemonade as much as the next person, although I guess it depended on who the next person would be. He always thought that phrase a bit strange, is there a line? How is the order determined? He'd spent some really late and lonely nights thinking about it, but that's not the point here. The point is, this lemonade stand in particular was a bit out of place. 

The Doctor stood on deck 12 of a Rank 7, Castle Class Vacation Sation, in orbit above Abydos. It was a lovely place really, lots of activities, lots of food, lots of people, and apparently this lemonade stand. The Doctor stared suspiciously at the stand, from a distance of course, you never want to get too close to rogue lemonade stands. He stared for several minutes more but then decided to approach the stand. 

The stand was called 'Lily Sisters Lemonade' and it was operated by a steward bot. The Doctor approached and slid a couple credits into the slot.  
"Hello there, lemonade please" he said with his trademark charm.  
"Greetings sir madam or other, please give me just a moment to prepare your refreshing beverage." The robot chirped, before it began squeezing lemons into a glass.  
"It's funny I wouldn't think to find a lemonade stand out here." The Doctor said to nobody in particular, hoping the robot would answer. "Lemons grow only on Earth you know." He was being very smart, and it upset him that only this robot was around to hear it. "And at this point, Earth hasn't made alien contact yet so how do you have lemons?" He said with a mumble. The not stared deep into his eyes and crushed another lemon, the juice streaming into the cup. The Doctor flinched. 

A few minutes later after adding sugar and mixing, the Doctor had his lemonade. He scanned it briefly with his sonic screwdriver and then glanced at the readout, just what he suspected, lemons. "Ach that's not what I was expecting at all, I was kind of hoping for poison or a virus or something. Blimey I can't believe I'm wishing for this to be an evil lemonade stand." He stood there and dejectedly drank his lemonade.

-


	2. See I KNEW there was something wrong, how could I be so THICK

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Doctor was RIGHT, there was something off about the lemonade stand.

A couple hours later, after everything had quieted down aboard the station, The Doctor began to make his way back to the lemonade stand. Being a station designed primarily for leisure and enjoyment, he was of course allowed to be walking the decks at night. However he always liked to feel as though he was breaking some kind of rule, as that made whatever he was doing feel exponentially more fun. Taking this into account he tried his best not to be spotted, and stuck to the shadows as much as he could. 

Upon reaching the Lemonade Stand, he creeps around to the back of it after double checking to make sure everything was powered down. He had made note of when the stand closed for the night when he had been there earlier, and he very cleverly had arrived mere minutes after it had shut down for the day. Once again he looks about, expecting there to be someone at his side to see how clever he was being. His heart sank for a moment, it was hard being on his own. He stared mournfully at his Sonic Screwdriver for a moment, nervously fidgeting with it. It was only a moment though, as he quickly shook himself out of it, and began mumbling quietly under his breath.

"Okay, mysterious lemonade stand, think. Its currently," he does some brief counting on his fingers. "Around 1220 AD on Earth, which means Lemonade HAS been invented but humans haven't met aliens yet. So they can't be getting the lemons from Earth through valid trade agreements." He began scanning the back of the stand with his Sonic Screwdriver, the blue light in the dark casting his face in dramatic blue and black shadows. It cheered him up considerably knowing how cool it probably made him look. "Could be fake lemons, but I already scanned earlier, and its definitely real lemons. Certainly tasted like real lemons too, I know ALL about how fake lemons taste and I'd definitely be able to tell." The Screwdriver beeped at him, he nodded, and yanked a metal panel off the back of the stand. He paused for a moment, thought, shook his head, and placed that panel back on the stand. He pulled a stethoscope out from his jacket, plugged it into his ears and began sliding the pad across the back of the stand.

After several minutes of listening intently and making a very serious face, he finally smiles his impish grin and puts the stethoscope away before pulling a different panel off the back, revealing a small basket full of lemons. He quickly pulls the basket onto the floor, then begins to smell and prod the lemons one by one. After six or seven lemons he freezes, staring astonished at the two he holds in his hands. 

"NO, it can't be! No! Yes!" he narrows his eyes at the lemons, "no, but that would mean, oh that's very clever isn't it. Greedy greedy eh?" he stuffs the two lemons into two separate pockets and pops to his feet. He quickly strides to the front of the stand and shines his Sonic Screwdriver at the head of the robot inside. The robot sputters to life and its two eye screens blink at him briefly, before a stern voice issues from its mouth.

"Sir, this stand is closed for the night, please refrain from activating my services during off hours."

"Ah but I know what you're up to!" The Doctor said with a glint in his eyes. "I knew there was something off about there being a lemonade stand here, the timeline was all wrong."

"I'm not programmed to understand this sort of conversation, please refrain from topics outside of the purchasing of lemonade"

"Blimey its automated, how thick am I," he holds up his Screwdriver once again. "Lets see if I can get customer service on the line." The robot's eyes go dim for a moment as The Doctor waves his Screwdriver all about the place. After several moments of Jiggery Pokery the robot whirs back to life, and a new voice echoes out of it, somewhat tinny and distant sounding.

"Oh, hello, may I ask who is calling?" The voice sounded rather surprised.

"Hello I'm The Doctor, may I ask who I've called?"

"You don't know who you've called?" The surprise shifted towards genuine confusion.

"Well yeah its sort of hard to call up a specific number from a robot running a lemonade stand."

The voice didn't respond for a moment, but when it came back it was somewhat amused. "Lemonade stand? One of MY lemonade stands?"

"Well if you're one of THE Lily Sisters of Lily Sisters Lemonade then yes." 

"Yes my name is Liliana Lily, the eldest Lily sister." There was a brief pause, "I'm sorry, what exactly is this about, and how in the stars did you call me through a lemonade robot"

"I'm clever its what I do!" The Doctor's voice is indignant but amused. "Now, care to tell me why your lemonade stand has only ONE lemon in it?" 

"I'm sorry sir, but if stand is running low on supplies it will be refilled by an employee, you'll just have to wait." Liliana sounds like she has begun to lose her patience, The Doctor did not notice this. He was very clever and noticed a lot, but this was one thing he was terrible at noticing. 

"No no there are plenty of lemons here, a couple dozen by my counting. What I am wondering, is how there is only ONE lemon here, and you know EXACTLY what I mean." His intonation becomes a bit more serious with this. After he finishes, there is a much longer pause from the robot.

"If you would like to file a complaint, then please.." She doesn't get a chance to finish as The Doctor cuts her off.

"I would, and you seem like the perfect person to file it with. You've been duplicating these lemons, I can tell, they are ALL the same exact lemon! Now why would you do that? Hm? Well that bit's obvious! Its very difficult to get on and off Earth without being spotted nowadays, the population is at a point where someone is bound to see you enter or exist atmosphere. One time is manageable though, so you've just gotta scamper on down to the surface, nab a single lemon, then bring it back for duplication! But you know even that is enough to get you some major fines and maybe even get your business license taken away! So you've gotta keep it secret! I'm surprised nobody has caught on yet, but I saw past it all, and I promise you that I will.." The Doctor's impassioned speech is cut short however, as Liliana starts to laugh. The Doctor freezes and blinks awkwardly before beginning to speak again. "You've broken the law Liliana, you've potentially corrupted a fledgling planet and.." Liliana laughs even louder, interrupting The Doctor once again. He looks even more nervous now, and becomes completely frozen in place. After a few brief moments of silence, he speaks again. "I get the feeling that I am missing something, which I really don't like. So please tell me what's going on." 

"Good Doctor, this is all public knowledge. We announced our exact business plan upon the foundation of this company, and it is included on all information pamphlets and literature that is available to our consumers. We gained a special license to make a single high stealth journey to Earth to acquire our seed lemon, and law enforcement is fully aware of the whole process." Liliana's voice rings out strong and confident from the tinny speakers in the lemonade stand. The Doctor's cheeks go bright red. "I saw Doctor, this is quite embarrassing for you. I will give you credit though, you do seem quite clever, and the fact you discovered this all on your own is quite impressive. However, it is of no consequence."

"But.." The Doctor sputtered.

"Now if you'll excuse me, I am quite busy at the moment, I hope you have a better day moving forward." Liliana sounds sincere and honest and she hangs up on The Doctor, and leaves him standing there, completely flabbergasted.

-

An hour later, The Doctor had replaced the lemons and the panel, powered down the lemonade stand, and returned to The Tardis. He stood leaned up against a pillar, deep in thought. Stuff like this had happened to him before, but it had always seemed more nefarious to begin with. What had he been thinking? Its just lemonade and lemons, it doesn't really matter. Even if they had been stealing lemons and duplicating them without permission, there would be no REAL harm in that. The Doctor wasn't a law enforcement officer for a reason, (many reasons but that's besides the point) he followed the spirit of the law, and his own moral compass, over the letter of the law. Him stepping in to try and enforce this felt so petty and arbitrary, why would he do something like that?

The truth is, he knew exactly why. He stood against the pillar and let out a long deep sigh, his eyes fixed on nothing in particular. Some days he went looking for trouble, he knew that. It made him feel alive, to be embroiled in a situation he knew was somewhat out of his control. In the end though he would always save the day somehow, figure something out. It had been so long though, so long since he'd had a companion, since any trouble had found him. The Doctor was a man of singular purpose, and when that purpose eluded him, and he could see the long and barren sands of his infinite future stretched out before him, nobody could blame him for going a little stir-crazy. Companionship and purpose are important for humans and other races, they need people there to remind them of what is important, and so they have something meaningful there for them as them saunter through their short lives. Sometimes The Doctor wished he could see life the way they did, every little thing bringing wonder and joy, so many firsts, every moment being an important and core part of their personality. Truth be told that is one of the secret reasons he loved having companions, seeing their joy and excitement at things he had gotten used to gave him life again.   
The Doctor had very few firsts left, he had experienced almost everything there was to do, and without someone to do it all again with him, sometimes it was hard for him to know what to do next. 

He stepped to the door of the Tardis, and slowly opened it, standing on the precipice. He had brought it into orbit around a small nebula, small stars forming in the depths of its tendrils and clouds. Watching Nebulas helped him think, seeing the swirling gases and pinpoints of light that signaled a new cosmic birth, calmed his mind, put things into perspective for him. He often felt lost without companions. Why? He felt comfortable being alone... not really though. His mind held so many thoughts at once, that without someone to bounce ideas off of, he became his own personal echo chamber. It wasn't that selfish though, they were never just sounding boards for him, there was something much deeper there always. Even before he came to know them as individuals, before they became his friends and traveling partners, there was a love there. This love always grew and grew, so much bigger than he ever expects it to be. 

A smile forms on his lips, his eyes reflecting the rainbow of colors swirling in space before him. He always tries to present himself as a creature of logic, of harsh truths and facts, if he could stay objective then he could get through with minimal pain. But the fact of the matter was, he was emotions to his core. And he learned that from humans, that's why he loved traveling with them so much. Without their joy and passion, he would be consumed by his loneliness, by the deep blue waves of the Time Vortex, dragging him into a crushing solitude. So he had to remember, he had to focus. His brain so often jumped to the future, or barraged the present with questions and investigation. He needed to look to the past, not a historical past, but his own past. Often the darkest moments can be overcome by looking at the shining moments you have seen before. Often, even as a memory, the pinpoint light of the birth of a new star, or a new love, could send hope and happiness cascading into the future. He had too many memories, more than he could count, but he just had to find the right ones. Rose, Martha, Donna, Jack, Mickey, and so many many more. 

The Doctor often feels lonely, but never for long. No matter where or when they are, his friends are with him in a way that nobody can ever truly take away.   
He smiles, wide, and closes the doors of The Tardis. He saunters over to the console, tears gathering at the corners of his eyes. 

"Where to next I wonder, so many new things to see."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey
> 
> The first chapter was pretty silly huh? This one started silly and then it got serious! Kind of wanted to do some kind of deeper exploration of The Doctor but wanted a more light hearted lead up to it. The end got kind of rambly, and it was pretty stream of consciousness. I hope you liked it though, I think The Doctor is such an interesting character, and I love when the show looks at the emotions and problems that can arise when you love as long as a Time Lord can.
> 
> Love you all <3
> 
> PS  
took a while to update because I wasn't writing, and if I'm not writing I can't post my writing
> 
> OOPS
> 
> Also I had to do historical research on lemonade but that only accounts for like half an hour so that doesn't count
> 
> Also
> 
> Major apologies for any inconsistencies in Verb tense, I tend to switch a lot based on whatever sounds best to me or how I am thinking about the scene. I'm 23 years old, if I don't know how they work now, I never will.

**Author's Note:**

> THIS IS GOING SOMEWHERE I PROMISE DON'T HATE ME, just wait for more chapters lol


End file.
